Florence: Where It All Began

Chapter 35

Upon arrival at the location, you and Tony are both taken to his trailer. You walk in to see a rather simple room with a couch, small table and chairs, a daybed, and a small bathroom.

"What do you think?" He asks.

"I don't know. I think I was expecting more."

"Not very glamorous, is it?"

"Not really."

You walk over to the table and see a stack of papers and a note that's been left for him.

"What's this?"

"That is the script for the scenes we're shooting tonight."

"There's only a couple pages here, is this all of it?"

Tony walks over to you and looks at it quickly.

"Yes, we really have only one speaking scene tonight and it's pretty short. The rest will be close ups with no dialogue at all."

"I guess it won't take too long then."

"You'd be surprised. It will probably be very early in the morning before we have all the shots Ridley wants to get."

"Wow."

He laughs and reads part of the schedule.

"Alright, it looks like they'll call you first, get you and everyone else into place before they'll bring me out."

"Oh boy."

"Don't get all nervous again. I talked to Ridley, he's going to make sure you feel comfortable and that you always know what's going on."

"Okay. Do you think they'll put me near you?"

"I don't know. Anything is possible. There are some magazines over on the coffee table if you want to go look at those. I need a few minutes to refresh these lines."

"Oh, sure."

You go take a seat on the couch and start flipping through some of the magazines. One of them has all of the tourist destinations in Florence as well as other parts of Italy. You make mental notes of a few that you can visit with Tony in the coming days, once he's finished filming. About an hour and a half goes by and you hear a knock on the door.

"Come in." Tony says.

The woman walks in and greets you both.

"Ms. Stephens is needed on set," she says to Tony.

Hearing her use your last name makes all of this feel very official and kind of excites you. You put your magazine back down on the table and follow the woman out. Before you reach the door, Tony stops you.

"Good luck Ms. Stephens."

He winks and gives you a quick peck on the cheek and you walk out.

"Ms. Stephens, my name is Tabitha, I will be your assistant tonight."

"Tabitha, it's very nice to meet you. Please, call me Amy."

"You got it. I am taking you to your seat for the night, do you need to use the restroom or anything before we go?"

"No, I think I'll be fine."

"Okay, this way."

You follow her into the building, through some hallways, until you get to what appears to be a courtyard where you see cameras, cables, monitors, and big machinery. You also see where they have things set up for the opera, a stage, chairs, and the orchestra. It's a lovely set up and seeing it all excites you even more. As you're walking to your seat, you walk past Ridley, who seems to be very busy so you just smile at him and move on.

"Amy!"

You look back to see Ridley walking over to you.

"Hello Ridley, how are you?"

He leans over and gives you a kiss on your cheek, making you blush a little.

"I'm well. You look fantastic. Are you excited for tonight?"

"Yes, I am! This place looks terrific, I can't wait to see how everything goes."

"Me too. Well it's good to see you. If you need anything at all, please don't hesitate to ask Tabitha. She's one of my personal assistants but she'll be with you all night, and trust me, you're in good hands. Alright?"

"Yes, thank you so much."

"Of course, see you later."

You rejoin Tabitha and she leads you right to your seat. You're about 11 rows back from the front and sitting a could of seat in from the center aisle.

"If you need anything, just wave, I'll be right back there, okay?"

"Thank you very much, Tabitha."

You situate yourself in your seat and now that you're finally here and have talked to Ridley, you feel very comfortable and not nervous at all. You are so grateful to Tony because he really made sure you were taken care of tonight. And you're very impressed by Ridley's generosity and what he's done to make you feel comfortable.

About 45 minutes later, you see Tony walk up to the front with Ridley and another person you don't recognize. They talk for a few minutes as you see cameras moving into place. Tony takes his seat and then the other man. The big lights they have on turn off and you hear someone on a megaphone yell, "Quiet on set!" You hear action and start to see the cameras move. Per your instructions, you look straight ahead and pretend to be watching the opera as you do your best to see Tony and what he's doing. You see cameras changing position and Ridley giving instructions. Tony starts exchanging glances with the man who he was talking to earlier and you're intrigued because you don't yet know who this character is. All of the camera work and the shots between Tony and the other man, repeat over and over for a few hours. You eventually hear Ridley yell cut and then Tony and the other man stand up and walk out with him. After a moment, Tabitha comes and gets you to take you back to the trailer. On your way, you see Tony and Tabitha leaves you with him.

"Hello, are you enjoying yourself?" Tony asks.

"Yes I am. It was very interesting to see how everything works. But you're right, it did take a long time and I have to use the bathroom now."

He chuckles, "The bathroom is right over there, I'll wait on you."